Method and system for interfacing communication networks

Abstract

The invention is directed to a computer-implemented system and method for transmitting data from a first node to a second node of a source-selected path routing network. In said system and method according to the present invention, a first data packet is received at the first node, wherein said data packet was sent from a source node according to next-hop routing. Subsequently, at least part of the data contained in the data packet is transmitted from the first node to the second node according to source-selected path routing. Finally, the data received at the second node is transmitted to a destination node according to next-hop routing. Said system and method is further characterized by the steps of determining, for at least a subset of a plurality of available paths between the first node and the second node, a plurality of path parameters; determining a plurality of attributes related to the first data packet; selecting a preferred path from the plurality of available paths based on a decision rule, said decision rule specifying, for at least one attribute, a preferred range of path parameters; and remotely determining the second node based on destination information related to the destination node, wherein said destination information is extracted from the data packet.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A computer-implemented method for transmitting data from a first node to a second node of a source-selected path routing network, comprising the steps of:
 receiving a data packet at the first node, wherein the data packet was sent from a source node according to next-hop routing; 
 transmitting at least part of the data contained in the data packet from the first node to the second node according to source-selected path routing; 
 transmitting the data received at the second node to a destination node according to next-hop routing; 
 determining the second node based on destination information related to the destination node and based on a load and/or a reachability and a geographic location of the second node; 
 determining, for at least a subset of a plurality of available paths between the first node and the second node, a plurality of path parameters; 
 determining a plurality of attributes related to the data packet; and 
 selecting a preferred path from the plurality of available paths based on a decision rule, wherein the decision rule specifies for at least one attribute a preferred range of path parameters,
 wherein the first node constitutes an entry gateway between a first subnet of a packet-switched network or a first packet-switched network and the source-selected path routing network, and wherein the second node constitutes an exit gateway between the source-selected path routing network and a second subnet of the packet-switched network or a second packet-switched network, 
 wherein the first subnet is different from the second subnet, and/or the first packet-switched network is different from the second packet-switched network, 
 wherein the first node and the source node belong to the first subnet of a packet-switched network or to the first packet-switched network, wherein the second node and the destination node belong to the second subnet of the packet-switched network or to the second packet-switched network, 
 wherein the plurality of attributes related to the data packet is determined from a header of the data packet using deep packet inspection, 
 wherein the plurality of attributes related to the first data packet comprises a traffic class and/or a source and/or destination application, 
 wherein determining the plurality of path parameters comprises measurements of network properties for at least a subset of the plurality of available paths, 
 wherein the network properties comprise latency, bandwidth, throughput, jitter, packet loss and/or maximum transmission unit, and 
 wherein selecting the preferred path from the plurality of available paths based on a decision rule comprises:
 determining, for at least a subset of the plurality of available paths, a quantity representative of a deviation between path parameters and the preferred range of path parameters; and 
 selecting the preferred path based on the quantities by minimizing a sum of the quantities. 
 
 
 
     
     
       2. The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein selecting the preferred path from the plurality of available paths based on a decision rule is at least partially based on pre-determined and/or user-selectable rules based on traffic class, preferred network paths, geographic constraints such as geo-fencing and geo-avoidance, financial cost, network measurements, source and destination application, and traffic-shaping rules. 
     
     
       3. The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein the destination information related to the destination node is extracted from the data packet. 
     
     
       4. The computer-implemented method of  claim 3 , wherein the second node is determined by selecting a gateway node that belongs to the second subnet of the packet switched network or to the second packet switched network. 
     
     
       5. The computer-implemented method of  claim 4 , wherein the second node is determined by selecting a preferred gateway node from a plurality of gateway nodes, wherein each of the plurality of said gateway nodes belongs to the second subnet of the packet-switched network or the second packet-switched network. 
     
     
       6. The computer-implemented method of  claim 5 , wherein the preferred gateway node is selected based on at least one of a plurality of parameters related to said gateway node. 
     
     
       7. The computer-implemented method of  claim 6 , wherein said parameters include slices of networks, load on individual destination devices, reachability, measurements of other network properties, sender network, and geographical location. 
     
     
       8. The computer-implemented method of  claim 7 , further comprising the steps of:
 sending a discovery packet by the first node to the second subnet, wherein the second subnet is associated with an autonomous system comprising the second subnet; 
 receiving a list of further gateway nodes from the second subnet; and 
 selecting the preferred gateway node by selecting one of the further gateway nodes from the list. 
 
     
     
       9. The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein for each of the further gateway nodes, the list comprises information related to a state of the gateway node. 
     
     
       10. The computer-implemented method of  claim 9 , wherein the list comprises information related to an instantaneous state of the gateway node, wherein said instantaneous state is characterized by a load of the node and/or a reachability of the node. 
     
     
       11. A gateway device comprising:
 a memory to store operations, and 
 a processor or processors to perform the operations, the operations comprising: 
 communicate with a first packet-switched network, the first packet-switched network comprising a source node; 
 communicate with a sourced-selected path network at a first node; 
 determine a second node based on destination information related to a destination node and based on a load and/or a reachability and a geographic location of the second node, said second node connected to the first node through the sourced-selected path network and a second packet-switched network, the second packet-switched network comprising the destination node; 
 transmit a data packet to the destination node; 
 determine a plurality of attributes related to the data packet; 
 select a preferred path from a plurality of available paths based on a decision rule, wherein the decision rule specifies for at least one attribute a preferred range of path parameters,
 wherein the first node constitutes an entry gateway between a first subnet of a packet-switched network or a first packet-switched network and the source-selected path routing network, and wherein the second node constitutes an exit gateway between the source-selected path routing network and a second subnet of the packet-switched network or a second packet-switched network, 
 wherein the first subnet is different from the second subnet, and/or the first packet-switched network is different from the second packet-switched network, 
 wherein the first node and the source node belong to the first subnet of a packet-switched network or to the first packet-switched network, wherein the second node and the destination node belong to the second subnet of the packet-switched network or to the second packet-switched network, 
 wherein the plurality of attributes related to the data packet is determined from a header of the data packet using packet inspection, 
 wherein the plurality of attributes related to the data packet comprises a traffic class and/or a source and/or destination application, 
 
 determine a plurality of path parameters comprises measurements of network properties for at least a subset of the plurality of available paths, and
 wherein the network properties comprise latency, bandwidth, throughput, jitter, packet loss and/or maximum transmission unit, 
 
 select the preferred path from the plurality of available paths based on a decision rule comprises, wherein the decision rule is associated with a quantity representative of a deviation between path parameters and the preferred range of path parameters; and 
 select the preferred path based on the quantities by minimizing a sum of the quantities. 
 
     
     
       12. The gateway device of  claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
 receive a stream of data through the source-selected path network; 
 extract data packets for packet-switched routing encapsulated in the stream of data; and 
 if the data packets are designated for a recipient node in the first subnet:
 transmit the data packets to the recipient node. 
 
 
     
     
       13. The gateway device of  claim 11 , wherein the gateway device is comprised in the first node and in the second node. 
     
     
       14. The gateway device of  claim 13 , wherein the gateway device is comprised in each of a plurality of gateway nodes. 
     
     
       15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that when executed by a processor or processers cause a computing system to:
 receive a data packet at a first node, wherein the data packet was sent from a source node according to next-hop routing; 
 transmit at least part of the data contained in the data packet from the first node to a second node according to source-selected path routing; 
 transmit the data received at the second node to a destination node according to next-hop routing; 
 determine the second node based on destination information related to the destination node and based on a load and/or a reachability and a geographic location of the second node; 
 determine, for at least a subset of a plurality of available paths between the first node and the second node, a plurality of path parameters; 
 determine a plurality of attributes related to the first data packet; and 
 select a preferred path from the plurality of available paths based on a decision rule, wherein the decision rule specifies a preferred range of path parameters for at least one attribute,
 wherein the first node constitutes an entry gateway between a first subnet of a packet-switched network or a first packet-switched network and the source-selected path routing network, and wherein the second node constitutes an exit gateway between the source-selected path routing network and a second subnet of the packet-switched network or a second packet-switched network, 
 wherein the first subnet is different from the second subnet, and/or the first packet-switched network is different from the second packet-switched network, 
 wherein the first node and the source node belong to the first subnet of a packet-switched network or to the first packet-switched network, wherein the second node and the destination node belong to the second subnet of the packet-switched network or to the second packet-switched network, 
 wherein the plurality of attributes related to the data packet is determined from a header of the data packet using inspection, 
 wherein the plurality of attributes related to the first data packet comprises a traffic class and/or a source and/or destination application, 
 wherein determining the plurality of path parameters comprises measurements of network properties for at least a subset of the plurality of available paths, 
 wherein the network properties comprise latency, bandwidth, throughput, jitter, packet loss and/or maximum transmission unit, and 
 wherein selecting the preferred path from the plurality of available paths based on a decision rule comprises:
 determining, for at least a subset of the plurality of available paths, a quantity representative of a deviation between path parameters and the preferred range of path parameters; and 
 
 selecting the preferred path based on the quantities by minimizing a sum of the quantities. 
 
 
     
     
       16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein selecting the preferred path from the plurality of available paths based on a decision rule is at least partially based on pre-determined and/or user-selectable rules based on traffic class, preferred network paths, geographic constraints such as geo-fencing and geo-avoidance, financial cost, network measurements, source and destination application, and traffic-shaping rules. 
     
     
       17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 16 , wherein the destination information related to the destination node is extracted from the data packet. 
     
     
       18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the second node is determined by selecting a gateway node that belongs to the second subnet of the packet-switched network or to the second packet-switched network. 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the second node is determined by selecting a preferred gateway node from a plurality of gateway nodes, wherein each of the plurality of said gateway nodes belongs to the second subnet of the packet-switched network or the second packet-switched network. 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein the preferred gateway node is selected based on at least one of a plurality of parameters related to said gateway node. 
     
     
       21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein said parameters include slices of networks, load on individual destination devices, reachability, measurements of other network properties, sender network, and geographical location. 
     
     
       22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 19 , further comprising the steps of:
 sending a discovery packet by the first node to the second subnet, wherein the second subnet is associated with an autonomous system comprising the second subnet; 
 receiving a list of further gateway nodes from the second subnet; and 
 selecting the preferred gateway node by selecting one of the further gateway nodes from the list. 
 
     
     
       23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 22 , wherein for each of the gateway nodes, the list comprises information related to a state of the gateway node. 
     
     
       24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 22 , wherein the list comprises information related to an instantaneous state of the gateway node, wherein said instantaneous state is characterized by a load of the node and/or a reachability of the node.